TERRY PRATCHETT - AUTHOR PRATCHETT DONATES $1 MILLION TO ALZHEIMER'S RESEARCH

AUTHOR PRATCHETT DONATES $1 MILLION TO ALZHEIMER'S RESEARCH

British author TERRY PRATCHETT has vowed to pledge $1 million (GBP500,000) for research into Alzheimer's disease. The writer, 59, announced he was suffering from a rare form of Alzheimer's disease in December (07). But Pratchett says he is prepared to go to extreme lengths in order to beat the disease. He says, "Personally, I'd eat the arse out of a dead mole if it offered a fighting chance. "I am, along with many others, scrabbling to stay ahead long enough to be there when the cure comes along. "Say it will be soon - there's nearly as many of us as there are cancer sufferers, and it looks as if the number of people with dementia will double within a generation. "It is a shock to find out that funding for Alzheimer's research is just 3 per cent of that to find cancer cures." Prachett is expected to make his donation to the Alzheimer's Research Trust at their annual conference this week (ends14Mar08).